Box Score

Aug. 25, 2007

EVANSTON, Ill.-- Junior Alex Quinn (Watertown Mass./Watertown) wasted no time getting Northwestern's season started off in the right direction on Saturday, as the midfielder put the Wildcats on the board less than three minutes into the game against Central Michigan, which sparked the `Cats to a 4-2 win at Lakeside field.

"I'm just proud that the kids came out ready to go, played aggressive hockey and stuck to our game plan," coach Kelly McCollum said. "We battled, we fought and we made a statement about the character of the team is this year. No matter what adverse situations we were faced with, we came back and battled."

Nearly 30 minutes after Quinn's strike, the Chippewas (0-1) knotted the score at one on a penalty corner, but NU forward took it upon herself to answer CMU's goal with less than a minute remaining in the first half to give the `Cats (1-0) a 2-1 lead at halftime.

Fellow Massachusetts native Jill Putnam (Greenfield Mass./Greenfield) added to the lead with a goal of her own to put NU up by a score of 3-1. In the 50th minute though, Quinn went back to her old tricks shooting and scoring her third goal of the day for the hat trick. Her three goals on Saturday were equal to half of her total from all of last season, and matched the output from her entire season as a freshman.

"Something we've been working on is persistence around the goal. Constantly getting shots and taking them with every inch we get," Quinn said. "The whole team is really capitalizing on that and it really helped us out today."

Emily Kyle (San Francisco, Calif./San Francisco University High School) made six saves on the day with the help of a stellar defensive effort from the `Cats back line, who consistently shut down the Chippewas' offensive threats.

"It was real important to see that when areas of the field were having some troubles, other areas of the field picked it up," McCollum said. "I'm proud of the group effort today."

Sophomore Meagan Harvey (Carlsbad, Calif./San Dieguito) gave the `Cats a lift from the bench in the second half and immediately made her presence known with two shots on goal and constant pressure on CMU's defense.

With the win, NU avenged its 3-2 loss to CMU last season. On Monday, the `Cats host the defending national champions, the Maryland Terrapins, at Lakeside Field at 1:00 p.m.

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